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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Eco-Sustainable Sewing Moment.

It rains a lot where I live. Not just the odd shower, but rain, real rain, torrential downpours with raindrops as big as dinner plates sort of rain.

And if you are caught in it, you can get very, very, wet.

Consequently I have a lot of fold up umbrellas. Just cheap things, often more than one in my bag, because I tend to forget them and leave them where I last was.

I used to have expensive little fold up umbrellas, but with my forgetfulness, the replacement cost was, well, expensive.

So I have resorted to cheap fold up (or is it out? I suppose it depends on whether the umbrella is going up or coming down) umbrellas.

Which frequently have little issues with them.

As this one did yesterday.

One of its spokes and the cover became detached.

Luckily, I could fix the problem: With simple, readily found around the home (my home at least) materials:

Two minutes, and the umbrella was restored to its former usefulness, and is now back in my bag.

I could have thrown in out and bought a new one. But look at the materials - all the steel framework - what is the environmental cost of all the mining, milling, transportation, manufacturing, more transportation from factory to market. I shudder to think.

So, my few minutes of eco-sustainable mend and make do has reduced my potential toss out carbon footprint by quite a bit.

8 comments:

Now why didn't I think of that? =) I have an umbrella that has many lives. I once chased a NYC bus on foot and in a cab to retrieve this umbrella that I had left behind. Alas, the fabric has separated from one of the spokes and though it's still usable, it's a pain because I could really put someone's eye out! I really should take the time to repair it.

Hi L - I love your umbrella story - it must have been a beautiful umbrella. I don't think all umbrellas have been made like this one, which is cheap and simple - most have the cover do-dads at the end, which are much better. I don't live in a busy area, so I don't need to worry to much about other pedestrians.

About Me

Hello, I'm Sarah Liz, and I am attempting to make my own Sew Style wardrobe. It's taking more time than I thought, but one day I will have a Sew Style wardrobe that is just right. And I blog for pleasure and not for profit. Content of sarahlizsewstyle.blogspot.com is copyright, 2013-2017, All Rights Reserved.